Ex-Bell official say he voted raise out of fear

LOS ANGELES—A former Bell city councilman says he voted for a big raise because he was afraid of the city manager.

The Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/VjGc9s) says George Cole testified Thursday that then-manager Robert Rizzo was vindictive. Cole says he was worried that there'd retribution unless he voted for a 12-percent annual raise for a council board in 2008.

Cole and five others are charged with misappropriating public funds. Prosecutors say they drove the Los Angeles suburb to near-bankruptcy by voting themselves fat salaries to serve on boards that rarely met.